Julia McCoy is the author of Job Power: How To Earn A Doctor’s Salary Without a College Education. You can learn more about Julia and the life experiences that led to her writing her book by reading her personal story below.

Julia’s story, in Julia’s words…

I started my freshman year in college with the intention of becoming a kindergarten teacher, but shortly before starting my sophomore year, I realized that there were lots of unemployed school teachers at the time. Why? Because at that time there were more school teachers than there were jobs for school teachers. You don’t have to be good at math to figure out that the numbers weren’t going to work out in my favor if I kept going down the same path and completed my teaching degree.

What did I do? Well, being the practical type of person that I am, I decided that continuing to pursue my teaching degree was a lose-lose situation and that I needed to recalibrate. What do I mean by recalibrate? Here’s the definition. Once you read it you’ll understand what I mean.

Recalibrate: to adjust; to take external factors into account.

Since I knew being a kindergarten teacher was not an option since I wanted a paycheck, not an unemployment check, I decided to pick my new career path differently than I had picked my first career path.

What did I do? I decided to take into account the external factors FIRST — rather than decide what sounded good to me without considering the external circumstances happening in the world around me. So I looked to see where the demand was. I knew I was an outgoing people person with a caretaking spirit – the type that wants to feel I’m making a difference in other people’s lives. With that in mind, I began to look at the job market from a practical point of view.

I began to do some research to find careers that fit my personality but were also in high demand. Were there any in such high demand that I could choose when or if I wanted to work? Could I work as many hours of overtime as I wanted? Could I ask for time off whenever I wanted and actually get it? How long would it take me to get trained so I could start earning, as quickly as possible?

Wow! A whole new world opened up before me. This was real POWER — I call it — JOB POWER. Instead of the 4 year college degree I was originally aiming to complete to get my teaching degree, I was now looking at only needing a 2 year associate degree. That meant less money in student loans, less time getting educated, and I’d be hired and making money in my newly chosen profession faster than if I’d continued my teaching degree — even though I was changing my career path and had already spent that first year going after my teaching degree!

I’d not only found a career I could embark on one year earlier than if I had become a teacher, I’d also found a career that was in high demand — a career that pretty much guaranteed I would have a job with my name on it once I got the necessary training. And sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. After just two years of training I was immediately hired as a nurse with great pay and terrific benefits. Why? Because nurses were in high demand. I’d found a career that was similar to teaching — a career that was caretaking and people-oriented. It met all those requirements and gave me a valuable sense of self worth, a terrific job with great benefits, and a lucrative paycheck instead of being stuck with a huge student loan and an unemployment check.

But it gets even better, because later in my life when I wanted to shift gears and create a different lifestyle for myself — I was 42 and wanted to travel the world. What did I do? Well, I could have just dreamt about the life I really wanted and regretted and resented being a nurse, feeling like my whole life was stifled. But of course that’s not what I did. Nope, instead I just decided to apply the very same steps I had used when I decided to go into nursing. I simply used the same principles I had used before. I looked for a career that would meet my desired outcome — to travel and see the world and do something that was people-oriented in an outgoing kind of way. Then I looked to see where the demand was. What careers had a large number of job openings?

With very little effort on my part, I transitioned my life (and my identity) from Julia “the nurse” to Julia “the Southwest Airlines flight attendant” which gave me the freedom to travel to new places and explore the world. I made a smooth transition from one career to another, which allowed me to enjoy a lifestyle that suited me without having to stand in an unemployment line or be without a good paycheck and a rewarding life and career.

Today more than ever before there’s a need for this type of assessment when determining a career path. People have forgotten about the infrastructure careers that desperately need to be filled, many of which pay six figures annually.

There has been so much focus on getting a college degree that these awesome careers are being overlooked and forgotten. At the same time, many college graduates take out massive student loans only to find that they cannot get work in their chosen career after graduation because there are no more jobs available in their chosen career. This leaves them overwhelmed, confused, deflated and in significant debt because of their large student loans.

I’m on a mission to change all of that. I want to show you a new way to choose your future career, and my book Job Power is designed to make it not only simple and easy but enjoyable and insightful, too. You’ll be surprised at the number of diverse careers that are in high demand. There are careers that suit all types of people with all types of skills and talents. Job Power the book will give you a great place to begin your search for the right career — a career that is perfect for you.

May Job Power give you the tools you need to find not just one lucrative career in your lifetime, but as many lucrative careers as you desire.